RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Western weapons used in Ukrainian raid inside Russia – WaPo
Military equipment and small arms provided by several NATO nations, including the US, ended up in the hands of militants who launched a cross-border raid into Russia's Belgorod region in May, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing sources linked to US intelligence.
At least four tactical vehicles initially supplied to the Ukrainian military by the US and Poland were employed in the May raid, raising concerns about Kiev's commitment to fulfilling the demands of its Western supporters, the sources told WaPo.
The US and its Western allies have consistently expressed opposition to the use of Western arms by Ukraine in attacks on Russian territory. They also urged Kiev to "carefully track the billions of dollars’ worth of weapons that have flowed into the country," WaPo reported.
The attack in question occurred in late May, and in response, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that "over 70 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored combat vehicles, and five pickup trucks" had been destroyed in the clash in Belgorod. The remaining militants were subsequently forced back into Ukraine and targeted by Russian artillery. The incursion resulted in one civilian death and 12 injuries, according to Russian authorities.
The Russian military shared a series of photographs showing what appeared to be destroyed Western equipment abandoned by the militants. Some of the images depicted two M1151A1 Humvee armored cars stuck in bomb craters, while others displayed two M1224 MaxxPro armored vehicles. An AMZ Dzik-2 armored car, manufactured in Poland, was also visible in the images.
Kiev attempted to distance itself from the raid by claiming it was carried out by the "Freedom of Russia Legion" and the "Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK)," the neo-Nazi units responsible for a similar attack in the Bryansk Region in March. The Pentagon and the US State Department expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of the images.
The State Department also said that the US "does not encourage or enable attacks inside of Russia." Washington also does not "support the use of US-made equipment … for attacks inside of Russia," it added.
According to the Washington Post, videos published by the "Freedom of Russia Legion" and the RDK militants themselves showed fighters using the Czech-made CZ Bren and Belgium's FN SCAR assault rifles. Both types of weapons were provided to Ukraine by the respective nations, the paper said, adding that "Bren and SCAR rifles are commonly distributed to Ukraine’s soldiers" and foreign fighters who travel to Ukraine to combat Russian forces.
A spokesperson from the Belgian Defense Ministry informed the Washington Post that they only provided weapons to "official authorities and the regular army" in Ukraine, placing responsibility on Kiev for their usage. Poland and the Czech Republic declined to comment on the findings presented by the Washington Post.
The use of Western military supplies in an attack on Russian territory raises the issue of Kiev’s accountability, Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think-tank, told WaPo. The Ukrainians "are clearly complicit here," Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps officer, added.
** Kiev rebuffs Indonesian peace efforts
Ukraine has rejected Indonesia’s proposal for a peace settlement with Moscow, arguing that Jakarta’s plan would only serve Russia’s interests.
President Vladimir Zelensky’s top adviser Mikhail Podoliak wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the roadmap “frankly looks like a twin of the Russian proposal … about the surrender [of Ukraine].”
The adviser reiterated Kiev’s position that the “only one realistic proposal” would be for Russia to “withdraw from the sovereign territory of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko also insisted that Russia should surrender its newly incorporated regions, which Kiev says were illegally occupied. “There can be no alternative scenarios,” he said in a post on Facebook.
“Ceasefire without the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine will allow Russia to win time, regroup, fortify the occupied territories and accumulate forces for a new wave of aggression,” Nikolenko wrote.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore on Saturday, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto suggested that both Russian and Ukrainian troops withdraw 15km (nearly 10 miles) from their current positions, creating a demilitarized zone that would be monitored by UN peacekeepers. He also proposed holding UN-sponsored referendums to determine the future “disputed” territories.
Moscow has so far not commented on the proposal. Russian officials stressed in the past that, in order to achieve a lasting peace, Ukraine must drop its bid to join NATO in favor of neutrality and recognize Russia’s recent territorial acquisitions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that there was “no basis” meaningful negotiations at the moment because Kiev and the West “don’t have any political will to take into account our country’s goals and concerns.”
** Russia's newest satellites to change course of Ukrainian conflict — former UN inspector
Russia's new radar surveillance satellites will allow Moscow to change the course of the conflict in Ukraine, former US intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector to Iraq Scott Ritter said.
Ritter pointed out that the Russian Federation recently launched "the first of several radar surveillance satellites that have a resolution of up to one meter, which means it can see everything." "It can see through clouds, it can see through rain. It can see through everything. High resolution radar, and they are seeing everything right now," he said.
"You can't hide anything from the Russians anymore," Ritter stressed. "And it's going to have a fundamental shift in how this [Ukrainian] conflict goes because all that stuff that's been brought - can't hide it," he continued, referring to Western weapons coming into Ukraine.
"They [the weapons] are all detected now and they're all getting programmed into the Russian target database. And the Russians are gonna start hitting this stuff, more and more and more and we see evidence of this already," Ritter pointed out, adding that in his opinion this conflict would become "unsustainable for the Ukrainian sometime by the end of summer, early fall.".
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russia has enough Iranian suicide drones to launch attacks every day to deplete Ukraine's air defenses - Ukraine AirForce spokesman
Russia has enough Iranian-made suicide drones to keep up attacks on Ukraine every day, a Ukrainian Air Force official warned.
Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said Russian forces have more than enough supply of Shahed-136 drones to keep up the attack, Ukrainian news outlet NV reported.
"Shaheds are now launched so often that it is not clear whether they are (supposed to be) detecting or depleting our air defense," Ihnat said, according to NV. "It's all in one: both detecting and, surely, depleting."
Russia has been using the unmanned loitering munitions to relentlessly bombard Ukrainian cities and targets in recent weeks.
The explosive drones have a range of 1,250 miles and are packed with explosives, Insider previously reported. The relatively small drones can then stay flying above their targets, lingering for the correct moment to strike, before crashing down and exploding on impact like a traditional missile.
Ukrainian defense minister Volodymyr Havrylov told Reuters that despite the barrage of drone and missile attacks, Kyiv's forces were still ready to start their counterattack against Russian troops occupying the eastern part of the country.
Havrylov said Russia was trying to distract Ukraine from its planned counteroffensive, but said the missile attacks were a "last strategic resort," Reuters reported.
Havrylov also told reporters that Ukraine's air defense systems were "more than 90 percent effective" at stopping the attacks, according to Reuters.
** Russia's air attack repelled on approach to Kyiv, Ukraine says
Russia launched a wave of air attacks on Ukraine early on Sunday, with air defence systems repelling all missiles and drones on their approach to Kyiv, the capital's military officials said.
"According to preliminary information, not a single air target reached the capital," Serhiy Popko, the head of the military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app early on Sunday.
"Air defence destroyed everything that was heading towards the city already at their distant approaches."
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Kyiv since May, chiefly at night, ahead of a long-expected Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim territory, in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to inflict psychological distress on civilians.
Reuters witnesses reported hearing several blasts in the Kyiv region, but not in the city, from what sounded like air defence systems hitting targets.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for nearly three hours.
There were unverified Ukrainian social media reports of blasts heard in Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine, near the central city of Kropyvnitskyi and in the northeastern region of Sumy. There was no immediate official information about the reports.
RT/Tass/Business Insider/Reuters
